Ancestry Tours of Scotland

Scots have emigrated to almost every country in the world, to Australia, to Canada, to New Zealand to the USA. Many of their descendants visit Scotland to trace their Scottish ancestry, some of them have detailed, or not so detailed, information, about their roots in Scotland. I organize Scottish ancestry tours of Scotland where there is an emphasis on Scottish genealogy and Scottish family history, showing tour guests the places where their ancestors lived, and worked, in Scotland.

Saturday, 21 November 2009

Stirling Castle is one of the most important royal and military structures in Scotland. It Great Hall was a prestigious ceremonial space that witnessed many of the most ostentatious and turbulent events of the Stewart period and was later converted to a military headquarters. The withdrawal of the army from the castle in the 1960s began a major campaign of renovation which was to last over thirty years. This book traces the eventful history of the Great Hall from its original construction to its recent renovation, as well as assessing its architectural influences and development, and the practical decisions and dilemmas involved in its renovation. Stirling Castle: The Restoration of the Great Hall (Research Report).

Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Ancestry Tours Of Polnoon Street, Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village takes its name from the French word eglise, or church, earning this as a result of its apparent abundance of places of worship in times past. The French influence of the name is likely related to the Montgomeries (latterly spelled Montgomery), historic landowners of the Eaglesham area, who originated from Normandy. Another possibility is the French influence on pre-Union Scotland where many members of the aristocracy were educated in France. According to legend one of these Montgomeries, the Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton, visited a village constructed in an ‘A’ shape whilst traveling abroad and, on his return, decided to transform his scattered ‘ferm toun’ (farm town) parish, then known as Egglisham, by building a similarly planned settlement at its heart. It was around this time that the spelling changed to Eaglesham. Today this Scottish village is chiefly a dormitory town for commuters to nearby Glasgow and Paisley.

Friday, 14 August 2009

Ancestry Tours of Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Irvine was the site of Scotland's 12th century Military Capital and former headquarters of the Lord High Constable of Scotland, Hugh de Morville. It also served as the Capital of Cunninghame. The town was once a haunt of Robert Burns, after whom two streets in the town are named: Burns Street and Burns Crescent. He is known to have worked in a flax mill on the Glasgow Vennell.

Sandy Stevenson

About Me

I was born in Buckhaven, on the East coast of the Kingdom of Fife, and raised in the old fishing villages of Cellardyke and Anstruther in the East Neuk of Fife. For the past 12 years I have been organizing and guiding unique small group tours of Scotland.